Since they inherited some land in 1979 when self sufficiency was very popular, they decided to earn an income from vegetable farming. Since then they have been growing organic produce, but they soon realised that their land was good for viticulture and started producing organic wine. This year they released England's first Biodynamic wine, aptly called First Release. I tasted it, wrote it up and then asked Roy to answer six questions.
Why make wine in England?
England is the most exciting place on the planet to make wine! -it's the new wine frontier! Virgin territory, and all that. It's not quite anything goes, because there are of course wine standards that must quite rightly be adhered to, but there is such a lot to discover in terms of the best sites, the most suitable wine styles, and the best business model - as well as how to be the most environmentally sustainable.
Aside from your own wines, what do you like drinking?
I enjoy a wide variety of wine styles, anything organic really. My absolute favourite is the biodynamic Gewurztraminer 'vendage tardiv' from Pierre Frick of Alsace - absolute nectar! Others would be Shiraz and Reisling Auslese.
What is the best, and worst, wine you have ever made?
Best wine I ever made was the Sedlescombe 2003 Dry White which won 1st prize at the English wine festival for Best Dry White. Worst was probably one of the small trial batches of early red wine made in early 1990's, or maybe it was the pea-pod wine I made when wine making was just a hobby.
If you didn't make wine, what would you do for a living?
Tennis coach. I love this sport and play at least once a week at a drop-in coaching session at my local club at Amherst in Hastings on Saturday mornings. I encouraged both my sons (Alex ,21 and Danny, 14) to play from a young age, now even the youngest beats me easily!
What is your most prized possession?
Not really into possessions, having to think about this one.........
Name three people, real of fictional, living or dead, that would be guests at your dream dinner party, and what would you be drinking?
Guests at my dream dinner party would preferably be some old personal friends, but if I had to choose publicly known figures then it would be Mick Jagger, John McEnroe, and either Jonathan Porrit or Karl Marx. We'd all drink a full-bodied red with a green label and play tennis to loud rock music like 'Satisfaction'!
Follow Roy on Twitter @organicwineryuk
Sedlescombe Website
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